This is about my journey into my soul by way of the highway of Ironman

Friday, November 22, 2013

What goes on between the ears....

Yet another
Ironman weekend in the books. I am so thankful for this sport and all the wonderful
friends I have made since being in the sport. What a treat to get to see
so many of them lay it all out there last weekend. I am always amazed that
the quality of human tenacity and spirit that propels the body over the course
of the day. While getting in my own training with a friend, I was asked
what I think about when I am racing and training. I actually have been
thinking of writing about this so the timing was perfect - thanks Megan!

I have and am very fortunate
to have had some amazing mentors and coaches to light the way for me.
Some of them may be surprised to realize that their words of wisdom were not
always lost on me and in fact stuck only to be replayed during any given
training session.

Simon Lessing told me that the pool is
the one place that I can and should always "race". There are
those times where I can get into just an easy rhythm rather than
really grabbing the water. This takes some commitment to really focus on
the clock and tell myself the truth about what is showing up in the pool that
day.

Todd Erickson reminds me to avoid getting
flat. His take is "don't be a barge". This is a thought I have replayed during just about every race since I first heard him tell me.

Chris Aarhus was my first triathlon coach as
well as cycling coach. Volumes could be written here on all that I
learned from Chris. For the purpose of this piece I will stick to just a
few. "If you want to go faster pedal faster". Seems simple but
often I find that it is easy to just get into a rut rather than really stay
focused.Sometimes it is
just about turning the peddles over faster – although not necessarily in an
easier gear!Chris also taught me
the importance of accepting the suffering, “give the legs time to accept the
discomfort, Dawn”.

Chris Legh was so brilliant
to teach me the concept of “it’s not like you are going to die”. He should know
as he gave it to himself so hard at Ironman that he collapsed.He came pretty close and if he didn’t,
the likelihood of me meeting the grim reaper on the course is slim.

Hillary Biscay has and continues to teach me so
much about going for it.Before
every race, I ask for a race plan and at the end of each of those conversations
she reminds me that “we are RACING”.Hillary has also reminds me
that the pain I can experience is directly in my control and that I can make it
happen more that my competitors if I chose.I love that I am in control and I can “make it hurt”.So much of life feels like we don’t
have a choice with discomfort and in racing, reaching my goals is in direct
proportion the my willingness to embrace the suffering as a good thing.When I am training and racing I have realized it is critical to listen to what I actually telling myself. Words have power - not only those that we hear from others, but just as important are those that we tell ourselves. Being ever conscious of what is happening between the ears makes all the difference in any training session and race.